K-P, Balochistan officials to receive financial management training

Programme will equip govt officials with skills to manage public expenditure

PESHAWAR: After identifying in the budget speech that improved fiscal management and raising revenues was a target, the provincial finance minister on Thursday launched a pilot for Public Financial Management – Professional Accreditation Programme.

The programme is aimed at government financial officials of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan.

“Strong financial management capacity is critical to efficient utilisation of our resources for better delivery of cost-effective services to the public,” said K-P Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra while launching the programme on Thursday.

“Today’s launch of this programme reflects our government’s resolve to support skill-building among our staff and we are grateful to our development partners for this initiative,” he added.

The programme is a joint initiative of the provincial governments of K-P, Balochistan and the World Bank under the Governance and Policy Programme. It has been financed by the governments of Australia, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Reforms unit to improve financial management

The programme will equip government officials with the appropriate skills to manage public expenditure. It covers topics such as budgeting, accounting, project management, cash management, procurement, debt management, performance management, auditing, public-private partnerships and reforms.

“The [World] Bank is supporting the governments of K-P and Balochistan in strengthening skills for better public financial management,” said World Bank Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan. “Improved revenue collection and effective public investment management will expand the fiscal space of federal and provincial governments to deliver efficient public services to millions of citizens.”

The programme, he said, has been developed in partnership with the finance departments of the two provinces, the Auditor General of Pakistan, Controller General of Accounts, national and international experts from local universities, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

The first cohort includes 30 government officials who will undergo training for three weeks in Lahore.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2019.